The Northern Secretary has begun a fact-finding trip to South Africa to discuss that country's Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the lessons it holds for Northern Ireland.
Mr Paul Murphy, who will spend four days visiting Cape Town and Johannesburg, is to meet former president Mr F.W. de Klerk and ANC official, Mr Cyril Ramaphosa. Yesterday Mr Murphy held an hour's talks at the South African parliament with Mr Kader Asmal.
A truth commission has been supported in principle by the Chief Constable and Prof Desmond Rea, chairman of the Policing Board.
Mr Murphy's consultation process in South Africa has led to criticism from the SDLP, which has accused him of double standards.
Mr Mark Durkan, the SDLP leader, said the visit was hypocritical in that Mr Murphy appeared keen to uncover the truth about 30 years of human rights abuses while the British government refused to call an inquiry into the killing of Pat Finucane.
"Paul Murphy has gone to South Africa to look at truth processes," he said.
"Yet at the very same time the British government is bending over backwards to try to cover up the truth about collusion in the North and ride roughshod over a clear commitment to a public inquiry given to the Finucane family."
The British government has said that no inquiry into the Finucane murder is to be mounted until pending criminal cases have run their course. This is despite a clear call to the contrary from Judge Peter Cory, who investigated the killing and who advocated an immediate inquiry at the expense of criminal proceedings.
Sir John Stevens, Britain's most senior police officer, has reported that security forces acted in collusion with loyalist paramilitaries in the murder.
Mr Murphy is expected to discuss an amnesty, an issue raised at the weekend by the PSNI Chief Constable. Mr Hugh Orde, whose force still has more than 1,800 unsolved murder cases on its books, said an amnesty would have to be considered and that equality between all parties to any commission was vital.
Mr Murphy has said he recognises that no truth commission model used elsewhere will meet Northern Ireland's specific needs. The DUP yesterday welcomed Mr Orde's raising of the amnesty question and called his openness "refreshing".
Mr Sammy Wilson said the party remained opposed to any talk of an amnesty and said any such course of action "may seem superficially attractive but has horrendous policy implications".
"We cannot go down the easy road of a truth commission," he added. "Far better that the government agree that it will fund no more public inquiries which are only one-sided propaganda tools for republicans." He said the money saved should be given to the police to investigate historic cases giving priority to those with the greatest chance of success rather than those which republicans "shout loudest about".